Front Differential Cracked Through

[ET2015]

Active duty, would appreciate Help ASAP. I'm on leave at a campground and just drove over an old tire rim being used as a campfire ring. As a result, my front differential is cracked through. My frame is fine. There's an oil leak, but it doesn't appear to be coming from the oil pan. I've checked the oil, transmission and brake fluid - they read okay.

Is my vehicle safe to drive? I need to get back to my duty station in CT, 250 miles away. And I'm pulling a 24' travel trailer.

It's Friday, nearly 6 PM - nothing's open. Help immensely wwelcomed.

 

[Aaron_Henshaw]

Where u at?

Sent from my 7040N using Tapatalk

 

[ET2015]

Herkimer, NY.

 

[stamp11127]

If the oil has a real stink to it then it is gear lube from the front diff. Driving it w/o lube may take out all of the internals unless you can disengage the front drive shaft and hubs to keep it from rotating.

Front & rear diffs are pretty stout, may want to double check that it is really cracked.

 

[ET2015]

100% cracked through. If I can figure out hiw to add an attachment to this I'll send a pic. Front 2 wheels were off the ground as the frame rested on the side of the campfire tire rim. I dint think I ciuld do this again in a 1000 tries

 

[stamp11127]

In a reply, choose Manage Attachments under additional options. Under worse case scenarios if driven without the gear lube it would require a complete rebuild - gear set, all bearings, spider - assuming it didn't weld itself together.
I wouldn't drive it very far unless I could make it a true 2wd.

Just out of curiosity - was alcohol involved?

 

[ET2015]

Not a single drop. I stopped to remove 2 bottles of water our daughter said she left in the freezer. She feels terrible, wife's upset & I'm worried about the safety of my family. The vehicles in 2H.

 

[stamp11127]

I think other members that have the 4wd have stated that the front drive assembly will free wheel in 2wd. Normally not a big deal but in your case there will not be any lubrication after all the lube drains out. If it does things should get very noisy up front - you will know it when you hear it.

Good deal on the lack of alcohol consumption.

Did you get a chance to smell the gear lube(dope)? If you haven't smelled it before, it will be a smell you will never forget or want to get on you again.

 

[ET2015]

Vehicle's at a Ford dealership in upstate NY. They weren't able to get it up on the lift today to determine the damage, but I was told a new one would probably run "around $3k, so we'll probably try and find a good used one for around $700 or $800, plus labor."

Wondering if anyone knows if those numbers sound about right?

I love this vehicle, I've taken very good care of it since buying it new. I hope this isn't one of those repairs that makes the vehicle go downhill from here. When vehicles (& people for that matter) get old, they're never quite the same after an accident!

BTW, I rented a vehicle and am now back in CT. Ideally, I'd like to be able to retrieve my Expedition next Saturday, I don’t know if a week's long enough for this type of repair but it seems pretty straightforward mechanical-only, no electronics.

 

[stamp11127]

That is a decent price if the unit is in good shape. Most rebuilds are around a grand +.